The pre-cooked meals that everyone on the internet is talking about actually require a steam generator in their processing

The topic of pre-cooked meals occasionally generates a surge in online traffic. The latest surge was triggered by two "super traffic engines," causing such a stir that it dominated various platforms.On March 21, 2024, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Health Commission jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening Food Safety Supervision of Pre-prepared Foods and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry." The notice explicitly states that pre-prepared foods, also known as pre-packaged dishes, are pre-packaged dishes made from one or more edible agricultural products and their derivatives, with or without seasonings or other auxiliary ingredients, without added preservatives, and produced through industrial pre-processing (such as stirring, marinating, rolling, shaping, stir-frying, deep-frying, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc.). They may or may not include seasoning packets, meet the storage, transportation, and sales conditions indicated on the product label, and are ready to eat after heating or cooking.

In the industrialized production of prefabricated products, the steam generator in the central kitchen is a key piece of equipment for ensuring food safety and quality.

In the cooking process, the steam generator offers significant advantages. When processing sea bass, a constant pressure steam of 98℃ for 20 minutes can bring the center of the fish to 72℃, locking in freshness and preserving nutrients. For vegetables such as broccoli, a high temperature of 120℃ for 3 minutes is used to blanch them, resulting in a 40% higher vitamin C retention rate compared to boiling, while also preventing localized overheating that could lead to nutrient loss.Sterilization is a core step in ensuring food safety. Pre-cooked meals require high-temperature sterilization to achieve a shelf life of 6-12 months. The 135℃ steam generated by a steam generator can kill Bacillus spores within 8 minutes, meeting the required sterilization rate. This physical sterilization method avoids the health risks associated with chemical preservatives, resulting in nitrite levels in pre-cooked meals far below national standards.Meanwhile, steam generators promote standardized production. By controlling temperature and time, the quality of different batches of products remains consistent; for example, rice is steamed slowly at low temperatures, while vegetables are processed quickly at high temperatures, meeting diverse needs. Automated operation reduces human intervention, improves product consistency, and ensures food safety from the production stage, providing strong support for the development of the ready-to-eat meal industry.As the focus of widespread online discussion, the development of pre-prepared meals has always revolved around the two core issues of "safety" and "quality." With consumers' increasing trust in pre-prepared meals, equipment like steam generators, which ensure production safety, are not only crucial for companies to meet regulatory requirements but also a vital force driving the industry towards higher quality and safeguarding the health of the people.